In This Issue:
- Food Venture Financing Trends
- CPG Corporate Venture and Private Equity Funds
- Links to Relevant Content and Events
Food Venture Financing Trends
- Investors continue to show interest in upcoming food sectors. Ready, Set, Food!, an organic childhood allergen prevention startup, announced that it raised $3.5 million in its recent round of funding.
- Opopop, a popcorn emerging brand, announced that it raised a $5 million Series A round led by Valor Siren Ventures. The fundraising round closed prior to its product launch this week.
- The M&A sector is continuing to generate activity as we head into the summer. Post Holdings announced its acquisition of TreeHouse Foods, a ready-to-eat cereal company, for $85 million.
- Consumer demand for functional beverages is increasing. Sales of shelf stable functional beverage products grew by more than 17% compared to sales from last year, according to recent data from SPINS and Nutrition Business Journal.
- Athletic Brewing, a nonalcoholic beer producer, announced that it raised $50 million in a Series C round. The company states it will partially use the funds to build a third brewery and a manufacturing facility.
CPG Corporate Venture and Private Equity Funds
This week's featured corporate venture and private equity fund is Sonoma Brands.
- Sonoma Brands, a private equity firm based in Sonoma, California, focuses on the growth sectors of the consumer economy. It makes minority and control investments in growth-stage consumer businesses, typically generating at least $55 million in sales.
- Portfolio companies include:
- Avaline
- VWE
- SmashMallow
- True Botanicals
- Sonoma Brands looks for brands that will benefit from its abilities to expand retail distribution and accelerate digital engagement. It aims to partner with bold, innovative founders on their way to building the world's next enduring brands across the physical and digital landscape.
Links to Relevant Content and Events
ARTICLES
- Better Than Bees? Arugga Nets $4M for Its Indoor Pollinating Robots
- Hungryroot Raises $40M in Series C Funding
- Kula Bio Secures $10M in Seed Funding for Next-Gen Biofertilizer
- Food Allergy Prevention Startup Ready, Set, Food! Raises $3.5M
- Vertical Farming Company Bowery Farms Raises $300M, Valuing Firm at $2.3B
- Sharebite Raises $15M From ESG Investors to Feed People Going Back to the Office
- Grabango Raises $39M Series B Funding for Cashierless Checkout
EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Project W – Emerging Food Brands Lab
June 10 – July 29, 2021
DWT is excited to announce that Project W is bringing its signature programming to female founders in the food and beverage sector through our first Emerging Food Brands Lab. Developed in collaboration with DWT's Food + Beverage practice, this multi-week program has been crafted to help female founders take their brand to the next level through workshops dedicated to scaling production, optimizing distribution networks, and raising capital.
CIA's Menus of Change Leadership Summit
June 22 - 24, 2021
Jeffrey Sachs, PhD, professor and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, will be joining the Menus of Change® Leadership Summit: Virtual Edition, June 22–24, to provide his insights on how building sustainability into your business benefits your guests, the planet, and most importantly, your bottom line. Twice named one of Time Magazine's most influential world leaders, ranked by readers of The Economist as one of the top three most influential living economists, and recipient of the 2015 Blue Planet Prize.
Barilla Seeks Participants for Accelerator Program
Barilla's venture unit Blu1877 and San Francisco-based incubator KitchenTown are seeking startups to take part in their Good Food Makers global accelerator program. The program will be focused around four challenges related to meal routines, the circular economy, nutrition guides, and food delivery.
Please check out DWT's newly re-launched Startup Law Blog
At DWT, we are proud to have one of the largest Food & Beverage legal practices in the country, with over 40 attorneys representing food innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors at every level of the food chain, from Farm to Label.
Please contact our Food and Beverage team if we can assist you in any way in these unprecedented times.
The facts, laws, and regulations regarding COVID-19 are developing rapidly. Since the date of publication, there may be new or additional information not referenced in this advisory. Please consult with your legal counsel for guidance.
DWT will continue to provide up-to-date insights and virtual events regarding COVID-19 concerns. Our most recent insights, as well as information about recorded and upcoming virtual events, are available at www.dwt.com/COVID-19.